Smoking pipe filler



June l2, 1951 H. A. THAYER ETAL SMOKING PIPE FILLER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 12, 1946 .lullin-Ill- Invenors .Harold A.Thoyer-` John L. Surbeck (n/ Q Y Attorneys- 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 H. A. THAYER ET AL SMOKING PIPE FILLER `lune l2, 1951 Filed oct. 12, 194e Invemrs Harold A.Thoyer John L. Surbeck Byciwv ma@ r@ Patented June 12, 1951 UNITED STATES geen ATENT DFFICE SMOKING PIPE FILLER Hamid A. Thayer and John L. surbeek, Chicago, Ill.

` 4 Claims.

This invention relates to smoking articles and has more particular reference to lling smoking pipes with tobacco.

Our invention rhas particular reference to the filling of a smoking pipe under conditions which ordinarily present some diiculty as, for example, while the smoker is seated in or driving an automobile, or under any circumstance where a mechanical aid would facilitate the filling of a pipe. A principal object of our invention is, therefore, to provide new and improved means for lling a pipe with tobacco, and particularly such means as may be applied to the dashboard of an automobile, or to any wall support or the like, or to a smoking stand or cabinet.

Another object of our invention is to provide an improved pipe ller characterized by means for holding a pipe with its bowl portion in a position for filling and means actuated by the operator for causing the tobacco particles to be moved in small quantities from a hopper into the pipe bowl which is supported in such iilling position and whereby such small quantities may be successively packed into the pipe bowl so as to give a proper lling.

Another object of our invention is to provide a pipe ller of the character described in which the several means are arranged in coacting relation in a unit of assembly adapted to be supported in the face of a wall structure or cabinet and including a tobacco receiving hopper mounted for relling from the front of the wall as distinguished from a top filling. Such an assembly is particularly desirable as applied to the dashboard of an automobile.

Another object is to provide improved means for moving and guiding the tobacco from a hopper through a feed passage and into the bowl of a pipe without the tobacco bridging or clogging but rather in a manner to permit the free passage and feeding of small quantities of tobacco by a feeding means which also serves to press or tamp the tobacco into the pipe bowl and thus enable lling of the pipe to a desired degree of compactness suitable to the user.

Another object is to provide a pipe iiller characterized by a passage located between a hopper and the pipe bowl having side walls of yielding or resilient material such as soft rubber which in coaction with a tobacco pushing means serves to prevent a too rapid ow of the tobacco and yet normally provides a restriction which automatically cuts oil? the flow of tobacco vto the bowl.

Another object of our invention is to provide an improved pipe filler which is automatic in respect'to certain of its functions.

Another obj'ect is to provide a pipe filler ofthe character described which may be manufactured at a comparatively low cost.

Other objects and attendant advantages will be appreciated by those skilled in this art as the invention becomes better understood by reference to the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

'Figure 1 is a View in perspective showing a pipe filler embodying our invention applied to a vertical wall structure such as the dashboard of an automobile 'Figure 2 is a vertical section through a pipe filler embodying our invention;

'Figures 3 4, and 5 arehorizontal sections taken substantially on the section lines 3 3, 4 4, and 5 5, respectively, of Figure`2;

Figure 6 is a vertical section through the tobacco feeding portion of our pipe iiller showing a modied form;

Figures'?, 8, and 9 are horizontal sections taken on the section lines 1 1, 8 8, and 9 9, respectively, of Figure 6; and

`Figure 10 is a top view of the shutter-like closure members used in .the latter form, removed from the device.

.Referring to the embodiment shown in Figures l to 5, inclusive, we have shown a form characterized by a casing or housing designated generally .by II enclosing an upper compartment I2 and a lower compartment I3. In this embodiment the upper compartment encloses a tobacco containing hopper designated generally by I4 which is pivotally Supported at I5 so that it may be tilted forwardly on such pivot to an open position indicated in dotted lines I6 in Figure 1 for the purpose of lling the hopper, and tilted backwardly to the operative position shown in full lines in Figure 2, in which latter position a pipe is to be filled with tobacco from the hopper. lThe hopper It may be of suitable construction and it is here shown as comprising side walls I1 and I8, front and rear walls I9 and 2i, respectively, and a bottom wall structure designated generally 'by 22, having a tobacco feed passage 23. The top of the hopper is open as shown in Figure 2 so that when the hopper unit is tilted forwardly it may be lled from the iront with tobacco. I'he lower compartment is provided at its front with one or more normally closed doors 2 arranged to be opened by insertion or" the bowl end of a pipe to a filling position and to close upon withdrawing the pipe through the front. In this case each door is hinged to turn about a pin 25 and a suitable spring 2S is arranged to yieldingly urge each door to the closed position shown in full lines in Figure 5. Each door is provided with a guide member 2d, best shown in Figures 2 and 5, arranged in diverging relation one with respect to the other so that upon insertion of a pipe bowl as by pushing it inwardly agains the doors 2, the bowl will ride against the eX- tensions 26 and swing the doors to a full open position when the bowl reaches the filling position shown in dotted lines 2l in Figures 2 and 5. It follows that when the pipe is withdrawn the bowl will allow the extensions 25 to swing outwardly to the closed position. Means are provided for yieldingly guiding the pipe bowl to the filling position comprising a bottom spring guide 28 and side spring guides E9 which serve to engage the pipe bowl and center and locate it vertically with respect to the filling opening 23. Thus by merely in erting the bowl end of a pipe as by an inward pushing movement, the bowl is automatically centered and located in a filling position without need for care and precision on the part of the operator in so placing the pipe.

Our invention provides improved means for lling a pipe bowl from the hopper when the bowl is located in the iilling position. To this end we have provided in the described embodiment, one or more layers of resilient material deiining the wall of the passage '3. In this embodiment we have provided an upper layer Si and a lower layer 32 each of yieldable or resilient material such, for example, as a porous or sponge-like soft rubber. In this case the lower Wall structure 22 is composed of multi-layers which are perforated to provide an opening 33 of considerably larger diameter than the opening 23 and located eccentric with respect thereto as shown in Figures 2 and 4. The lower layer 32 of soft rubber is compressed between upper and lower layers 34 and .t5 of the wall structure 22 so that the portion of the rubber disposed within the opening 33 is in a normal condition and free to be expanded or distorted from a normal position. The iilling passage 23 above described is formed in the upper and lower layers 3l and 32 in the location shown` Each of these layers 3i and 32 is radially slitted as at 3A to provide a greater degree of passage opening and to allow a certain amount of distortion of those portions or the soft rubber layers contiguous to the passage 23. The upper layer 3l is preferably beveled at 35 for a limited area to provide for clearance of the pushing and tamping head 35. This head is normally supported within the passage 23 so as to provide a closure therefor. Means is provided for actuating the head 3E in a manner to withdraw it from its closure position to a position within the hopper and to advance it in a downward direction in a feeding stroke. By means of this back and forth movement of the head 36 the tobacco is worked partly by gravity and partly by pressure of the head into and through the passage 2E and into the pipe bowl.

By reason of the resilient character of the passage opening the tobacco ,displaces the passage walls when being forced down into the bowl and these Walls serve to strip oi the tobacco or retain it in the bowl against being drawn back into the hopper. By successive operations of this kind the tobacco is delivered into the bowl in successive quantities and is tamped in the bowl by the action of the head until the bowl is illed. As a simple means for actuating the head 36 we have provided a rod 31 attached to the head and extending through a suitable bearing support 38 and another at 39 in the front wall of the hopper, and to the front end of the rod we attach a suitable knob 41 for manual operation. Thus the operator by grasping the knob il may work the lunger head 345 back and forth coplanar with the rod 3l and may also impart a certain amount of sidewise tilting movement to the head for the purpose of loosening the tobacco in the hopper or for working the tobacco into and through the filling passage.

The soft rubber walls of the passage 23 combined with the action of the plunger head serve to permit feeding of limited amounts of tobacco from the hopper into the pipe bowl, the rubber passage walls opening to a wide area under pressure of the plunger head when forcing a charge of tobacco in a feed stroke, and said walls contracting to their normal small area after passage of the tobacco and serving as an effective closure against further flow of tobacco from the hopper'. It will be observed that the pipe may be held by one hand in the lling position while the other hand operates the knob -ii to perform the Filling operation, or the iilling operation may be performed entirely by the one hand on the knob il because the pipe will be supported in position by the spring guides 26, 28, and 2g. This eliminates the use of a tobacco pouch or similar container and provides a means for quickly lling the pipe with the use of only one hand. This filling may conveniently be done while driving an automobile, assuming the device is mounted in the dashboard or in the wall structure of the car. In view of the foregoing description, application of the device to a smoking stand, or a cabinet, or desk, or other support, will be obvious.

In Figures 6 to l0 we have shown a modified form of the invention, in which the bottom of the hopper is equipped with a pair of shutterlike closure members designated generally by l2 and d3. lin this embodiment, as is here shown, 55 the hopper has a filling opening 23 and a soi't rubber bottom wall 3i, a plunger head 36, and a plunger operating rod 3l, similar to these parts described above. The closure members 42 and 43 are alike in construction and normally occupy the closed position shown in the drawings. Such closure members are pivoted respectively at lill and 45 to the bottom of the hopper structure and each comprises a sheet metal body having a flat portion 4l slidable horizontally between parts iS and 49 of the hopper bottom structure. In these movements the members 42 and 43 swing about their pivots to open and closed positions. Each suoli member has suitably attached to its top surface a soft rubber piece 5l which with the opposite member provides an opening 52 in alignment with the opening 23. The bottom part 49 is cut away to provide a circular opening 53 corresponding substantially in size and location with the opening 33 above described, In this case each body porassegna' tion 41 is provided with tabs 54 pressed over the top of the soft rubber member to hold it in position. Each soft rubber member is slitted as at 55 similar to the slitting in the soft rubber members above described. Each such member 42 and 43 is provided with a down-turned por.- tion 56, which extends through an arcuateopen-A ing 5i in the bottom member 49 in whichA opening is disposed a coiled compression spring 5.8 which acts against the member 5S, and yieldingly holds its shutter member in the closed position. Each such member 42 and 43 has fixed to its portion 56 an inclined guide 5'9' arranged to be engaged-y by a pipe bowl when the latter is inserted into the device and a guide 6,1 at its opposite end adapted to be engaged by the pipe bowl when the latter is moved into the filling position, to thereby hold its closure member in the open position. These guide members 'S9-6l form a continuous guide surface against which the pipe bowl moves from the inner to outer positions.

It will be apparent that these shutter-like members normally close the passage 23 and that they will be moved to an open position upon insertion of the pipe bowl to the filling position above described. In this position the portions of the soft rubber pieces 5I contiguous to the opening 52 will function as further guides to passage of the tobacco particles into the pipe bowl and they will have a yielding or expanding function similar to the soft rubber walls described in connection with the iirst embodiment.

In further embodiments the pipe supporting and the pipe filling means may be arranged in cooperative relation in casing structures other than the structure herein disclosed, in which arrangements the essential filling functions would be performed. In the casing embodiment here described we have included a container 6l in the form of an open top drawer located in the bottom of the casing adapted for catching any tobacco particles which may drop to the bottom. This drawer may be pulled forwardly as shown in dotted lines in Figure 2 for removal of this surplus tobacco.

It is believed that the foregoing conveys a clear understanding of our invention and it should be apparent that changes may be made in the con struction and arrangement of parts within the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

We claim:

l. A pipe filler comprising, in combination, a tobacco container having a bottom discharge opening, means for supporting a pipe beneath and in filling relation with the discharge opening, said pipe container being in the form of an open top hopper having a front wall, housing means nor mally closing the top of said hopper, means supporting said hopper so that it is tiltable forwardly to a position in which its open top is outside said housing means to permit filling the hopper through said open top, the hopper being tiltable backwardly to a position in which its open top is closed by said housing means, means actuated by the pipe in the movement thereof to said iilling position to permit flow of tobacco through said opening into the pipe, and operating means manually operable from the front of said hopper for pushing tobacco from said container through the discharge opening for deposit into the pipe bowl.

2. In combination a pipe container having a bottom discharge opening, means for supporting a pipe bowl in a filling position beneath said opening, resilient means in the bottom of the con- 6*. tainer arranged aroundy the `discharge; opening so. as to normally support tobacco within the con-- tainer and prevent it from feeding through said. opening, aA plungerelement.V disposed in the` conf-.z

taner above said opening and having manually@ operable means extending to.- the exterior vof the: container and operable thereby in feed and rev turn movements toward and from said discharge opening, shutter-like means intermediate said resilient means and: said pipe bowl normally providing Ia further closure to passage of tobacco from said discharge opening into the pipe bowl and being movable toV an open position,v said plunger being Operated in SaidY ,feed movement t0 press tobacco through and beyond said; resilient means and said resilient means being displaceable to allow passage of said tobacco through said opening and into the pipe bowl.

3. A smoking pipe ller comprising, in combination, a casing having an upper and a lower compartment, a tobacco hopper within the upper compartment pivotally mounted to tilt forwardly and backwardly therein and having a front wall normally closing the front of the upper compartment when the hopper is in the backward tilted position, the hopper being tiltable forwardly to an open position in which it may be filled at its top through the front of the casing, the lower compartment being provided at its front with a closure normally closed and adapted to be opened for the insertion of the bowl end of a pipe, means for guiding said inserted pipe bowl to a filling position within the lower compartment, a discharge opening in the bottom of the tiltable tobacco hopper arranged to be in filling relation to the pipe bowl in said filling position thereof when said hopper is tilted to said backward position, operating means manu-ally operable from the front of said hopper for pushing tobacco from said container through the discharge opening for deposit into the pipe bowl, and displaceable soft rubber means associated with the pipe discharge opening for normally retarding passage of tobacco from the container into the pipe bowl, said operating means including plunger means for pressing tobacco from the container through said discharge opening and through said displaceable soft rubber means for the discharge of said tobacco into the pipe bowl.

4. A smoking pipe filler comprising, in combination, a casing having an upper and a lower compartment, a tobacco hopper within the upper compartment pivotally mounted to tilt forwardly and backw-ardly therein and having a front wall normally closing the front of the upper compartment when the hopper is in the backward tilted position, the hopper being tiltable forwardly to an open position in which it may be filled at its top through the front of the casing, the lower compartment being provided at its front with a closure normally closed and ladapted to be opened for the insertion of the bowl end of a pipe, means for guiding said inserted pipe bowl to a filling position within the lower compartment, a discharge opening in the bottom of the tiltable tobacco hopper arranged to be in filling relation to the pipe bowl in said filling position thereof when said hopper is tilted to said backward position, operating means manually operable from the front of said hopper for pushing tobacco from said container through the discharge opening for deposit into the pipe bowl, and displaceable soft rubber means associated with the pipe discharge opening for normally retarding passage of tobacco from the container into the pipe bowl, said manually pe'r'abe tobacco discharging means comprising a plunger element in coasting relation with said discharge opening, said operating means including means for operating said plunger element in a back and forth stroke wherein the plunger element serves to push tobacco through said dsplaceable soft rubber means for discharge into said pipe bowl.

HAROLD A. THAYER. JOHN L. SURBECK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

Number S UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Dorman June 6, 1906 Paskal Mar. 9, 1926 Baptiste Jan, 12, 1932 Howard Septl 19, 1933 Moe Oct. 27, 1936 Yates Nov. 18, 1941 Matter Sept, 29, 1942 Loether Nov. 24, 1942 Miller June 29I 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Number 15 373,458

Germany Apr. 12, 1923 

